Northern Ireland: Stormont, Collusion, and the Finucane Inquiry

NORTHERN IRELAND: STORMONT, COLLUSION, AND THE FINUCANE INQUIRY HEARING BEFORE THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MARCH 18, 2015 Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe [CSCE 114–1–2] ( Available via http://www.csce.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 94–241 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS HOUSE SENATE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi, Chairman Co-Chairman ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas RICHARD BURR, North Carolina STEVE COHEN, Tennessee JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania TOM UDALL, New Mexico LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER, SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island New York RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois ALAN GRAYSON, Florida EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS Department of State Department of Commerce Department of Defense [II] NORTHERN IRELAND: STORMONT, COLLUSION, AND THE FINUCANE INQUIRY MARCH 18, 2015 COMMISSIONERS Page Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman, Commission on Secu- rity and Cooperation in Europe .............................................. 1 Hon. Robert Aderholt, Commissioner, Commission on Secu- rity and Cooperation in Europe .............................................. 22 MEMBERS Hon. Brendan Boyle (R–13), a Member of Congress from the State of Pennsylvania ....................................................... 3 Hon. William Keating (D–9), a Member of Congress from the State of Massachusetts ..................................................... 4 Hon. Joseph Crowley (D–14), a Member of Congress from the State of New York ............................................................. 5 WITNESSES Geraldine Finucane, Widow of Murdered Human Rights Lawyer Patrick Finucane ........................................................ 6 Professor Kieran McEvoy, Queen’s University School of Law, Belfast, Northern Ireland ....................................................... 11 Anne Cadwallader, Author, ‘‘Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland ’’ ............................................................................... 15 APPENDICES Prepared statement of Hon. Christopher H. Smith ................. 28 Prepared statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin .................... 30 Prepared statement of Secretary of State John Kerry ............. 31 Prepared statement of Geraldine Finucane .............................. 32 Prepared statement of Kieran McEvoy ..................................... 39 Prepared statement of Anne Cadwallader ................................ 45 [III] NORTHERN IRELAND: STORMONT, COLLUSION, AND THE FINUCANE INQUIRY March 18, 2015 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE WASHINGTON, DC The hearing was held at 2:45 p.m. in room 2175, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, presiding. Commissioners present: Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and Hon. Rob- ert Aderholt, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Coopera- tion in Europe. Members present: Hon. Brendan Boyle (R–13), a Member of Con- gress from the State of Pennsylvania; Hon. William Keating (D–9), a Member of Congress from the State of Massachusetts; and Hon. Joseph Crowley (D–14), a Member of Congress from the State of New York. Witnesses present: Geraldine Finucane, Widow of Murdered Human Rights Lawyer Patrick Finucane; Professor Kieran McEvoy, Queen’s University School of Law, Belfast, Northern Ire- land; and Anne Cadwallader, Author, ‘‘Lethal Allies: British Collu- sion in Ireland. ’’ HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE Mr. SMITH. Good afternoon, and first of all, let me just say at the outset I apologize for the lateness in starting this hearing. We did have a series of votes on the floor preventing and precluding all of my colleagues and myself being here. So again, I thank you for your patience at the late start of the hearing. I want to begin by welcoming everyone at this hearing today, es- pecially our witnesses, all of whom are joining us from Northern Ireland. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to hear from you, to learn from you about ongoing efforts for accountability, justice and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. This is the 15th congressional hearing that I’ve chaired on human rights in Northern Ireland—the first one was back in 1997—and many of my colleagues on the Commission with us today have joined us for these hearings. This is to say many of us in Congress deeply care about these issues, follow them regularly, (1) 2 and will continue to do so. This is one of the most bipartisan issues on Capitol Hill. It has been, is, and will continue to be. In December of 2014, the parties of the Northern Ireland Execu- tive and the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland approved the Stormont House Agreement, with commit- ments for ‘‘dealing with the past’’—that is, addressing crimes and the consequences of crimes of ‘‘the Troubles.’’ Other provisions address government reform and other controversial issues. And the British Government committed to funding new structured deal with conflict-related crimes and to assist the victims of ‘‘the Trou- bles.’’ Today we look forward to hearing about steps to implement the Stormont House Agreement, and prospects for full, unfettered real- ization of processes to hold those who committed crimes accountable and finally provide a measure of justice to victims and to their families. We also look forward to learning about increasing revelations of government collusion in crimes committed by paramilitaries. For years British officials denied collusion in crimes committed by the paramilitaries. In recent years, however, evidence has mounted that its security services enabled or had direct knowledge of a sub- stantial number of paramilitary murders. We hope to find out what the British Government has done in response. Is it on track to holding itself accountable? One particularly shocking instance of collusion was the 1989 murder of human rights defense attorney Patrick Finucane. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998—one of the most outstanding dip- lomatic achievements of recent decades—left a number of issues unresolved, including the issue of British collusion in paramilitary crimes. In 2001, however, the British and Irish Governments dealt with this in negotiations at Weston Park. There the British Gov- ernment assumed a solemn obligation to initiate a full, inde- pendent, public judicial inquiry into the Finucane murder and five other crimes if so recommended by retired Canadian Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory. On May 5th, 2004, Justice Cory did recommend a public inquiry in the case of Patrick Finucane. He released this recommendation at a public hearing of this Commission. To date, the Finucane murder remains the only case Judge Cory investigated where his recommendation has not—I repeat, not—been honored. This is deeply unsatisfactory for many reasons, but not the least of which because it is evidently the one where the British Government is probably the most culpable. The Finucane murder is also a case in which—until the Prime Minister’s apology in December of 2011—there has been the great- est level of sustained official denial and obstruction by various state agencies. Obstruction went to such a point that, rather than provide the promised inquiry, in 2004, the British Government prepared new legislation governing inquiries. This would allow the government to withhold evidence from the inquiry process. Total subterfuge. The Finucane family rightfully declined to accept such an inquiry. And Judge Cory wrote a letter to me in which he stated, and I quote in pertinent part: ‘‘The proposed new Act would make a 3 meaningful inquiry impossible. The commissions would be working in an impossible situation. For example, the Minister, the actions of whose ministry was to be reviewed by the public inquiry, would have the authority to thwart the efforts of the inquiry at every step. It really creates an intolerable Alice in Wonderland situation.’’ Close quote. Though in 2012 Prime Minister Cameron acknowledged and ad- mitted ‘‘shocking’’—that’s his word—levels of collusion between the state and loyalist paramilitaries in the murder of Patrick Finucane, this does not substitute for the full exposition of the facts behind the British state’s involvement in the murder of Patrick. Rather, the steady increase in the amount of evidence being revealed pub- licly that senior officials in the British state colluded in the murder has made honoring that commitment more important than ever. There is no statute of limitations on getting to the truth. The many previous denials and the time that has passed in the Finucane case has drained public confidence in the peace process and diminished respect for the rule of law in Northern Ireland. It must be said that there are those who oppose the peace process and their opposition is dangerous. The failure to address the case of Patrick Finucane in the manner promised by the British Govern-

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